August Revolution through the memories of those involved

More than 70 years have passed, but the heroic memories remain intact in the hearts of those who experienced that historic moment.

The success of the August Revolution in 1945 had a great contribution from the Viet Minh cadres of Hoang Dieu citadel in enlightening, mobilizing, and gathering the masses to rise up and seize power, creating momentum and strength for the revolution, and intimidating the enemy and the puppet government.

More than 70 years have passed, but the heroic memories remain intact in the hearts of those who experienced that historic moment.

Mr. Vu Oanh

At the age of over 90, Mr. Vu Oanh, former member of the Politburo, former Secretary of the 6th Party Central Committee, former Head of the Hanoi revolutionary delegation attending the "National Congress" in Tan Trao, still remembers clearly the atmosphere of more than 70 years ago.

He recounted his memories of the August Revolution. At that time, the Party had not yet publicly taken leadership, with only 5,000 members, and through the Viet Minh Front, it had gathered over 20 million compatriots to carry out an unprecedented revolution in history. Just 2 days before the General Uprising, the “National Congress” enthusiastically approved the Party’s policy of a General Uprising and elected the Vietnam National Liberation Committee - the provisional government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, with Uncle Ho as President.

Mr. Vu Oanh said: “The Tan Trao National Congress is a congress of solidarity, great solidarity of the whole nation. In addition to Hanoi, localities where there is a movement send delegates to attend, including foreign delegates. Uncle Ho gathered and raised the issue of great solidarity to gain victory. The slogan is "Solidarity, great solidarity, success, success, great success" and must rely on the people, promote the people's strength to gain victory and having the people means having everything. The people are the masters of the revolution and the people push the revolution to victory".

Immediately after the “National Congress” in Hanoi, the entire population took to the streets to rally in support of the revolution and the Viet Minh. This created a ripe opportunity for a general uprising to seize power. Mr. Le Duc Van, then in charge of the Viet Minh youth movement in Hoang Dieu city and in charge of the Hon Nuoc newspaper, said that for decades, he and those who participated in the August Revolution had chosen August 17 to commemorate.

He said that before August 17, the Viet Minh movement had grown strong. There had been many public speeches in crowded places denouncing the puppet government and supporting the Viet Minh. Therefore, almost all Hanoians had turned to support the Viet Minh. During those days, the movement to eliminate traitors and secret agents also developed strongly. Therefore, to regain morale, the Tran Trong Kim government organized a rally on August 17 at the Opera House.

Mr. Le Duc Van recalled: “We were ordered by the city party committee that all members participate in the rally. Participating in that rally was not to attend but to disrupt that rally, turning it into our own rally. We mobilized “national salvation youth” and “national salvation women”… each person brought a red flag with a yellow star and assigned a group to take over the forum, calling on everyone to support the Viet Minh, move forward to gain independence, and launch a general uprising.”

Major General Nguyen Dong Thoai, former Deputy Director of the Operations Department, General Staff, who was present at the Hanoi Opera House Square on August 17 and 19, 1945, said: There are many documents about the August Revolution, but until now many people still do not clearly understand the historical significance and success of the Hanoi Regional Party Committee in disrupting the August 17 rally of the Tran Trong Kim Government.

Major General Nguyen Dong Thoai said: “If the uprising is too early or too late, it will not succeed. At that time, the situation in Hanoi was “as tense as a bowstring”, the people no longer had any hope in the puppet government of Tran Trong Kim. At that time, they asked the Viet Minh to join the Tran Trong Kim government but the Viet Minh refused. To regain their spirit, they ordered all civil servants to participate in rallies to support the Tran Trong Kim government. I was there, everyone saw that the Tran Trong Kim government was failing, so they had to follow the Viet Minh to seize power”.

Recalling the memories of that day, Mr. Tu Ngoc Hoan, then 14 years old, a student at Trung Vuong school, a member of the Viet Minh in Hoang Dieu citadel, said: At that time, wherever we went, everyone shouted "Down with the puppets", "Support Viet Minh", "Vietnam independence". With that rally, the people of Hanoi took to the streets to support Viet Minh. The opportunity had come, on the evening of August 17, the Hanoi Party Committee decided on a general uprising. That was a sharp, wise decision of the Hanoi Party Committee. The uprising on August 19 took place not too early, not too late and was successful.

Mr. Tu Ngoc Hoan said: “I personally think that the above victory was achieved thanks to the resolute and flexible leadership of the Secretary of the City Party Committee, along with the brave and courageous spirit of the men and women of Hoang Dieu City. After finishing, I realized that I did not know if there was any attack on a military camp in the world that captured 400 enemy soldiers, seized a weapons depot without using violence, without firing a single shot.”

The August Revolution succeeded thanks to the unity of the entire people, including the great contribution of the Viet Minh cadres in Hoang Dieu citadel. The lesson of the success of the August Revolution is that, in addition to opportunities, there needs to be a vanguard Party and the people's trust in following the revolution. That lesson still has contemporary value to apply in the current period, accelerating the industrialization and modernization of the country, and deepening international integration./.

According to VOV.VN